With a network of around 775 Fellows from 96 countries, the Atlas Corps family is growing every day. It is time to look back and to showcase the achievements of our amazing Alumni. Today we want to talk with our Alumnus Edison (Class 26, Albania, Host: Open Gov Hub).
Within a couple of years of completing his Fellowship and moving back to Albania, Edison opened Open Gov Hub Albania which is an affiliate hub of Open Gov Hub, an Atlas Corps Host Organization. Congratulations Edison! We wish him all the best with his impactful work!
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Name: Edison Frangu
Home Country: Albania Current Organization: Open Gov Hub Albania Role at current organization: Managing Director Social Issue that you worked with: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure |
What are the major highlights of your professional journey since you have finished the Fellowship?
After coming back to Albania, I started at the Albanian Development Fund for Diaspora at the Ministry of State for Diaspora as the Head of Entrepreneurship support sector where I contributed a lot thanks to my experience in the USA. Then, I founded Open Gov Hub Albania, an affiliate Hub of Washington DC, U.S.A, and at the same time. I am also working as an adviser to the mayor of two municipalities in Albania and I even coordinate some projects with other local authorities.
Tell us about your current project?
Open Gov Hub Albania aims to contribute to the development of the civil society that will play an ineradicable role in the political and economic development of the Republic of Albania (and within the Western Balkans, Mediterranean, European and global contexts). We bring together the skills and resources of researchers, data analysts, communicators, technicians, lawyers including journalists in order to encourage and promote the outstanding potential of this thematic model of cooperation across borders for an open society, and promote the use of best practices that are in place in various countries.
In line with our objectives, we organize conferences and seminars, trainings, refinement and updating courses, promotes studies and research laboratories, participates in projects with such goals, publishes papers and studies, and conducts surveys, collects and facilitates the dissemination of information related to the field of open government.
Have you collaborated with any other Atlas Corps Fellow after finishing the Fellowship?
Yes, I’ve collaborated with Nino (Class 26, Tunisia) who is the founder and Executive Director of El Space Innovation Hub, another affiliate of Open Gov Hub which is located in Tunisia. We worked closely together on launching our affiliate hubs and have since collaborated on many joint events, including the first-ever Global Hubs Affiliate Retreat which took place last year in Dubai.
How has Atlas Corps contributed to your professional and personal accomplishments?
There are no words that can express my gratitude to this program and to the team of Atlas Corps. I have organized a lot of activities in the USA with the Albanian Government and other International Delegations across the USA and the world thanks to this program and the support of my supervisor. Atlas Corps also provided me with the opportunity to get to know myself better and my capabilities to be a social changemaker in Albania and beyond.
What advice do you have for applicants and incoming Fellows?
If you want to be yourself and see what you can really do, Atlas Corps is the perfect place! And, to the current fellows, speaking from my experience, I would like to say don’t be afraid to ask your supervisors what you can do. Nada Zohdy, my supervisor and the Director of Open Gov Hub, was amazing because she was always willing to push me to be the best that I possibly could possibly be. Please don’t be afraid to speak to and work with the great team at Atlas Corps.
More about Atlas Corps
Atlas Corps partners with mission-driven organizations (nonprofit, private, and government) to facilitate a professional exchange program for the world’s best emerging social change leaders to live and serve in the United States for a 12-month Fellowship. The Atlas Corps network currently includes more than 775 professionals from 96 countries who have served at 300 organizations. Interested in becoming our Fellow? Apply now at apply.atlascorps.org.
